Norristown man pleads not guilty to double murder charges

By
Carl Hessler Jr., The Mercury

Thursday, October 4, 2012

NORRISTOWN – A Norristown man showed no emotion Tuesday as he learned that he potentially faces death by lethal injection if he’s convicted of first-degree murder in connection with the alleged stabbing deaths of two people inside a borough apartment in June.

Luckenson Desrivieres, 24, who is accused of the June 17 double murder of Marc Estiverne and Shamara Hill in an apartment in the 1200 block of Arch Street, appeared calm in a Montgomery County courtroom as Assistant District Attorney Samantha Cauffman informed Judge Steven T. O’Neill she intends to seek the death penalty against Desrivieres upon conviction.

Desrivieres allowed his court-appointed lawyer John I. McMahon Jr. to talk on his behalf during the formal arraignment hearing.

Desrivieres subsequently waived his arraignment and McMahon entered not guilty pleas on Desrivieres’ behalf to charges of first- second- and third-degree murder, robbery, theft by unlawful taking or disposition, receiving stolen property, possession of an instrument of crime and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence in connection with the alleged double murder.

O’Neill set a tentative trial date in April. Desrivieres remains in the Montgomery County Correctional Facility without bail pending trial.

First-degree murder, an intentional killing, is punishable by life imprisonment or the death penalty upon conviction.

In order to seek the death penalty, prosecutors must show that aggravating factors existed at the time of a killing. Aggravating factors are things that make a crime more heinous.

One aggravating factor, prosecutors alleged, is that Desrivieres, who is originally from Haiti, “committed the killings in the perpetration of the felony offense of robbery,” according to court documents.

Defense lawyer William R. McElroy was appointed by the judge to assist in the defense case should there be a death penalty phase at trial.

Second-degree murder, a killing that occurs during the course of another felony, is punishable of life imprisonment, and third-degree murder, a killing committed with malice, is punishable of 20-40 years in prison.

Both Estiverne and Hill were discovered in a second-floor bedroom, their bodies riddled with stab wounds to their heads and torsos, authorities said. Both victims also suffered defensive wounds to their hands, authorities said.

In court papers, authorities alleged Desrivieres also had been a tenant in the building at one time.

Desrivieres, who also reportedly listed an address in the 600 block of Chain Street, was arrested several weeks after the killings when he was found hiding under a cardboard box in a residence in Irvington, N.J., by police and the U.S. Marshals Fugitive Task Force. Authorities previously said they believed Desrivieres had connections to the “Bloods” drug gang in northern New Jersey.

According to police reports, on June 17, a 911 call was received by the Norristown Police Department around 4:20 p.m. Police were dispatched to a home along the 1200 block of Arch Street for reports of a double homicide.

Upon arrival, police found Estiverne, 23, and Hill, 26, with obvious stab wounds to their heads and torsos. At the time, investigators found a slew of cleaning products and sprayed the crime scene with a chemical agent designed to fluoresce in the presence of human blood. Positive results registered throughout the location.

Detectives subsequently interviewed a witness who told them Desrivieres had asked to find a female to “set up” Estiverne for compensation, according to court papers. Desrivieres allegedly told the witness he wanted a female to “lure” Estiverne to the Elmwood Park down by the creek so that Desrivieres could rob him and then “take care of him permanently.”